Strayhorn gives up on 'Grandma' lawsuit - State & Local

Strayhorn gives up on 'Grandma' lawsuit - State & Local

I am soooo very glad that Carolyn Keeton Strayhorn has decided to drop this suit which indeed is not worth the battle. I couldn't understand why she would even think that she had had half the chance in winning that battle. Thankfully, the battles are turned to more important issues at hand -- hopefully. I would have hated to think that the whole campaign would have been clouded by such trivial issues.

Austin teens create magazine - Top Stories

Austin teens create magazine - Top Stories

What an awesome experience for these 4 teenager gals from Westwood High School in the Greater Austin Texas area. This began has a mere summer project and has blossomed into a magazine that will actually premiere its first issue at a Premiere Celebration at Book People on Saturday, August 12th, at 7pm. Kudos to these young entrepreneurs and the best luck to their future!

So you think you know everything....

Found this in my email today -- enjoy!!


"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and lollipop" with your right. (Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. (I'll bet you're going to check this out.)

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.


"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt". (Are you doubting this?)

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet. (Now, you KNOW you're going to try this out for accuracy, right?)

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes). (Yep, I knew you were going to "do" this one.)

There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. (You're not doubting this, are you?)

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious." (Yes, admit it, you are going to say:a e i o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. (All you typists are going to test this out)

All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three sec onds.

A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.


A snail can sleep for three years. (I know some people that could do this too.)

Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.


In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. (Good thing he did that)

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.






....................Now you know everything!

Being Grateful!

“If you cannot be grateful for what you have received,
then be thankful for what you have been spared.”
- Yiddish proverb

Went on 43 Things website and discovered this proverb written there in the process of perusing through the site. (Interesting site that has a lot areas to explore!)

Too often, we are not grateful enough for the things that we do receive in our lives...as well as what adversities we have been spared from. :D

Learning to Love Again - Life Since the Death of My Spouse

Okay. It is 2am where I am still working. I could be studying for my classes that are starting tomorrow (I know, I know -- but, they really don't start until tomorrow!!), but I don't; however, I did print out this terms' syllabuses. Perhaps, I'll take a better look at those syllabuses tomorrow.

In the meantime, I pull out of my back pack a book (purchased at Barnes & Noble on their $1 bargain shelf) that I had started to read earlier today -- HEART (Stories of Learning to Love Again) as Edited by Kristen Couse (authored by Alain de Botton, Banana Yoshimoto, Vladimir Nabokov, Alice Munro, Anita Brookner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, Robert Olen Butler, Anne Tyler, Colette, and Thomas Hardy -- all fabulous authors in their own right!). Each chapter is a mini-story written by these authors and, of course, as I am reading my head is spinning in many thoughts and directions.

The first story is prefaced by (editor's notes):

"It has been said that it is best not to over-analyse love. Obviously, Alain de Bottom doesn't share this belief. In his first novel, he tracks every phase of the relationship between is narrator and Chloe, from their chance meeting on a Paris-London flight, to the moment when she leaves him, to, in this exerpt, the process of shedding the incredible weight that a broken heart can leave behind."

The story actually begins as:

"1. There is an Arabic saying that the soul travels at the pace of a camel. While we are forced ahead by the relentless dynamic of the time-tabled present, our soul, the seat of the heart, trails nostalgically behind, burdened by the weight of memory. If every love affair adds a certain weight to the camel's load, then we can expect the sould to slow according to the significance of love's burden. By the time the animal was finally able to shrug off the crushing weight of her memory, Chloe had nearly killed my camel.

2. With her departure had gone all desire to keep up with the present. I lived nostalgically, that is, with constant reference to my life as it had been with her. My eyes were never really open, they looked backward and inward to memory. I would have wished to spend the rest of my days following the camel, meandering through the dunes of memory, stopping at charming oases to leaf through images of happier days. The present held nothing for me, the past had become the only inhabitable tense. What could the present be next to it but a mocking reminder of the one who was missing? What could the future hold besides yet more wretched absence?"


Wow! I had to catch my breath as I read and re-read this. Have I really been living in the past since Kevin's death?

I do so have the fondest of memories of him and how much he loved me and demonstrated it to me each and every day. While married to him, I was worried about my daughter though who had gone to live with her Dad temporarily.

How do we get to the point in living in the present. Yeah, yeah, yeah... I am presently studying forensic psychology, starting up a cooking meetup group, volunteering in a victims' group, and so many other things, as well as working as an advocate at a national hotline, but am I truly living in the present???

Through my marathon moving process, it has certainly been an eye-opening experience which is continued onward through my illustruous exploratory experience of unpacking boxes that haven't been openned for more than 6 years. Some boxes have been like opening a pandora's box yielding experiences in their own -- ie dog food that had been packed by the movers of the corporation that I was working for at the time -- I just never know what I am going to find in these mystery boxes.

People have asked me, "How's your love life?" Honestly, it hasn't been all that great. I have thought I have been prepared to move forward and leave behind the memories of the past which are, in fact, burdening the camel carrying them and the broken heart that I had faced due to Kevin's sudden death. I certainly don't wish having to go through the death of a spouse upon anyone. It isn't an easy process. A divorce is much easier because you can prepare for the inevitable and, in many instances, one has a continued relationship with the divorced partner after the termination of the official sancity of the marriage; however, in the death of the spouse, they are gone forever.

One can continue to communicate with them spiritually and hold onto the memories forever, but it isn't the same as having something tangible in front of you. Letting go of the past isn't quite so simple.

November 11, 2002, Kevin died in our apartment from a heart attack. It has been nearly 4 years later and I am ready to move forward into another relationship -- whatever relationship that my future may hold for me.

Perhaps, I should symbolicly put those memories and the broken heart from the loss of him onto that camel and let that camel continue travelling in the distance in order to distance myself and allow myself move forward into the realm yet to be explored and relished.

At least, this book is making me think a little....

Customer Service Anyone???

LOL... This appeared in my email box tonight. For anyone who has EVER dealt with an irrate customer, enjoy!! :D

It happened at the Denver Airport. This is hilarious. I wish I had the guts of this girl. For all of you out there who've had to deal with an irate customer, this one is for you. An award should go to the United Airlines gate agent in Denver for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.

A crowded United Airlines flight was canceled. A single agent was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS." The agent replied, "I am sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but, I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?"

Without hesitating, the agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone, "May I have your attention please, " she began, her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the United agent, gritted his teeth and swore "F*** You!". Without flinching, she smiled and said, I'm sorry sir, you'll have to get in line for that too."

Quote by Brandi Snyder!

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.

- Brandi Snyder



Isn't this an awesome quote? What does it mean to you????

JUST IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING...

I didn't think it was possible, but I think that I might have resolved my computer problem and will be ready for classes that begin again for my upcoming term on next Wednesday (seemingly, just in the nick of time!)....

Things I did to resolve my issues:

1. Purchase and have a 300GB Maxtor HD installed on my custom built computer as a primary drive by a Frye's tech; they installed my old 80GB hard drive as a secondary drive.

2. Because I couldn't locate my old MS98OS disk (and just had the upgrade for XP Professional), I had another tech load up the XP OS on my computer, with the distinct instructions to re-run AVG anti-virus on my computer immediately upon getting the OS installed.

(Note: Frye's tech said that (1) since AVG had been the only anti-virus that identified the virus, it would be the one to be re-ran on the computer; (2) b/c the virus was in the memory of the hard drive on which the AVG was running, AVG couldn't remove the virus; (3) running the AVG on the new hard drive would enable it to remove the virus on the old harddrive (because it is no longer in memory). It sounded logical!! )

3. Tech was successfull in installing the XPOS program, as welll as running AVG which quarantine the virus and a couple others that had crept in. As a result I have access to my computer files on the old hard drive!! Yea!!!

4. While I have access to the old files on the drive, I don't have access to my personal documents b/c I had placed them as private folders so that other users on my computer couldn't access my documents. Thankfully, I had previously copied and uploaded them to a web-based storage -- at xdrive.com. :D

5. Computer system runs faster than ever now -- although, the XP OS doesn't recognize the 300GB hard drive as a 300GB harddrive. Explanation: When XP was designed, it wasn't predicted that 300GB hard drives would exist; therefore, it is only reading it as a 100GB hard drive. Solution in the future -- contact the 300GB hard drive manufacturer for the software to download for XP to recognize that it is a 300GB hard drive. Imagine the speed once it does recognize it!! It'll be like driving the Autobahn in comparison to our roadways!! lol......

6. Cost -- 300 GB hard drive was $89.99 -- Installation of hard drive - $40 -- Upload of XP OS and drivers & run AVG -- $60 (due to the time it took). All in all, it cost me a heck of a lot less than purchasing a brand new computer and I have the speed I want. I am happy.

LESSON LEARNED -- Have a back up computer system on hand for these Kaplan studies. Because my computer system was failing on me during the last few weeks of last term and finally cratered on me, my grades suffered in the classes I had been taking and I will have to take them over. I am not looking forward to that, but I am glad that something good did come out of the process in the end.

Next goal -- purchase a computer to have on hand in case something happens to my primary computer system. At least, it won't seem like such a daunting and stressful task at hand to get things up and running again.

If you happen to have a spare computer that you aren't using any more, let me know....;)

Whew!!

I am now ready and ammunitioned for my next term at Kaplan with my speedy computer (starting this coming Wednesday!!). Are you???? :D

All puns intended!! LOL...

But speaking of which...

what ever happend to the pun-off contests that you used to hear about so very much????

K

DEAD END CEMETERY

Guess they put this cemetery in the right place, huh?? ;)

Give it to your wife???

LOL!!!

I have managed to turn my first husband's boxers pink one year... Who is to truly say that we know best when it comes to washing? However, I can't believe that they actually put this much detail on the clothing article for washing and care instructions. This is more that what is normally offered!! :D

WAR CONFLICTS

As you know if you have been following my blogs, my ex husband left for Iraq at the beginning of June. He has been trying to call my daughter, but when he does she is at work and can't talk on the phone when she is with clients.

However, through other people he has told them that:

* one time, he was travelling on the roadways with people at a high rate of speed to get from where they landed to the base that they were staying at and the truck ahead of them got bombed. One of the guys in the truck ahead of them lost his leg.

* at night, he hears the bombs coming close to them.

These are civilians not trained for war, but have been paid extra in order to do work over in Iraq. At the time of leaving, there wasn't much going on, but now there is much more happening. I can only imagine what is going through my exes' mind at this time because he was never trained for military type of work, yet he has ended up being right in the middle of it.

While he loves Robert Mitchum books because of the history etc. intertwined in the books, I don't think he would have ever dreamed in a million years that he would have been so close to the turmoils.

Recently, too, many Americans have also evacuated from Israel/Lebanon as the conflicts have increased there as well. These are Americans adults and children who are, additionally, not trained in the military prepardness.

One such family from the Circle C/Oak Hill area was on the news recently telling their story about their escape adventure, which through the mothers eyes seemed to have been quite the venture to leave.

We are so lucky to be able to lay our heads on our pillows at night (or day for those who work at nights) and rest easy in the unlikelihood that our homes or places where we work, shop, entertain, etc. would be bombed and destroyed along with many other lives. Where is the humanity in the bloodshed of the wars?

What makes the fears so great that we have to fight one another to prove a point?

What happend to being able to debate and discuss things?

Why is there so much violence in the world?

When will it all end???

Cluttering to Declutter????

LOL...

During my waking hours today (and before I go to work), I have been working to declutter myself by openning up boxes in order to go through the boxes in a process to simplify my life a little better.

In the meantime, I have boxes, boxes, boxes EVERYwhere. Where will this process end???

My ankles swell up so I have to rest every now and then, which makes the process seem a very daunting task....

My WHOLE house doesn't look like this. I'll take pics of the rest of the house when I get a chance to do so; this is just what is supposed to be my dining room. Why do things have to look worse than they really are before they get better????

Anyone wish to come help me??? What? No takers???? lol.. Didn't think so!

Well... the cat just knocked down a box, so back to work on the boxes I go!!

LOL....

A cool Mom?

Sometimes, the old saying is, "When the tough get going, the tough go shopping!" lol...

Today was no exception as I have been having a heck of a week this week with many good and bad things -- ending up with a battle against the technologies (my cell phone frequency picking up someone elses' conversation; my bank cancelling out the wrong card; and my computer seeming to be on its last leg...).

I called my daughter up last night and told her that I would like for her to come with me to a sale that was happening in Lakeway at a kitchen supply store. I think all she heard from me was "kitchen" and with the idea that Mom would be buying her something for her kitchen, she got all excited. In fact, this morning she told me that she woke up at 9am this morning (this, coming from a person who'd rather sleep until noon, at minimum if she doesn't have to be anywhere) and she was at my place at 11:30am waking me up. (Now, grant it, I didn't get home until around 7:30am from working an over night shift last night!)...

At any rate, we went to the kitchen store and found some very cool things for both her apartment and mine, went to eat some Chinese food, shopped at Gap for a some new clothes for her to wear at her job, and comparison shopped for some spa treatments in the area. Afterwards we went back to my apartment where we rested up (and I got frustrated again with my computer at home and then took a nap).

In the midst of just doing a few things around my apartment, she turned to me and sang, "Cool Mom, Cool Mom!" and turned to me to ask me, "Did you know that you were a cool Mom???" I replied, "No, I didn't." However, in the back of my mind, I am thinking this is so different from the attitude she had four years ago when she was nearly 15.

She is growing up, bit by bit, before my eyes.... and, I am loving it!

I sincerely think my daughter is the coolest for being able to admit that to her Mom! :D

Welcoming Gibson!

No picture for now... I promise, I'll update soon with a picture;

however, since this was the first day for this brown, short-haired, tabby kitten (approx. 7-8 months old) in my home, I thought it best that he just take the time to enjoy his new surroundings.

He lived at a home where there were some mean dogs who ate his food as well and had nearly mauled another cat. He needed rescuing bad...and he seems soooo very skinny -- much more than need be.

He has eaten to his heart's content today, taken advantage of a litter box (since he has been an outdoor cat this is new for him), and explored the new home, as well as all the boxes I still have yet to go through!!

He didn't have a name though from the old place. He got his name because my friend said, as she was bringing the cat to my home, he was such a brave kitty and laid on her back seat on his back and didn't squall at all on his first car ride. I gave him the name "Gibson" because when she told me the story, my mind immediately thought of the movie - Braveheart - who starred Mel Gibson. It only seemed fitting!! lol...

Now, my home seems more complete....

although there are many ways still it could seem much more complete; however, one step at a time!! :D

JavaByteVerify virus

I have been having some problems with my computer over the past couple of months with an annoyance that has become increasingly worse over time. I have run Spybot, Spyblaster, Norton System works...and nothing seemed to work to pick up a name for this virus.

AVG though picked up a name for it but couldn't do anything because it is in an archive, which complicates matters.

If anyone has a viable, reliable remedy (that works!) for it, please let me know.

Thanks!!

K

The thing about winning fast...

is that it is often like a roller coaster ride in where you come down faster with some bad things that occur.

Today was just one such day.....

1) Was in severe leg pain this morning from staying up so late unpacking stuff (until 6am this morning)....

2) When I awoke and actually headed out for errands, I found a disconnect notice hanging on my door from the electric company. When I asked them to clarify "Previous attempts to collect on your .... utility accounts have gone unanswered", they couldn't. Guess that is why they were willing to play, "Let's make a deal!"

3) A "GOOD" was that I got a personal size trampoline for free from someone moving and had placed a classified on MySpace (Yes! MySpace has classifieds!!), but when I went to eat lunch with a friend of mine at a restaurant in Westlake, my bank card didn't work. Fortunately, I had another bank card on me....but, come to find out the bank had errored in closing the wrong card which has majorly inconvienced me (which is probably enough material for another stand along blog).

4) Was supposed to be online for classes but an annoyance virus on my computer was getting the best of me.

5) While taking a nap in an effort to take a break from the frustrations of the computer, I got called out for a security assignment, went to get gas with my bank card (discovering once again that my card isn't working and I have no cash available to get gas), and then the callout was cancelled. Go home a little emptier on gas and take off the uniform that I quickly had put on.

Ayyyyy yayyyyy yayyyy... lol....

Oh, I can't forget to mention too that, while unpacking boxes that I have been moving from place to place with me (as George Carlin would say, "taking all my stuff from place to place") I found a large box that had been packed in 1999 when I was promoted to a manager position at the telephone company by the movers and it still hadn't been openned. In an effort to really get rid of some of these boxes and make my new apartment a little less cluttered, I openned it. Brace yourself!!!

I slowly got the tape off of the box, openned the lids, moved aside the newsprint paper they had stuff around the objects in the box, and discovered a trash can cannister with a flip lid that I had stored dog food in at my old home in San Antonio (up until 1999). Trouble is --- they didn't throw out the dog food!! Ewwwwwweeee!!!......

I nearly gagged as I openned that box. That moving company was probably the worse ever and took full advantage of the corporation paying for the move by the box.

At any rate, I am nearly afraid to open the other cardboard boxes left from that move process. Last week, I had openned another marked "GARAGE" which I had presumed to have had tools, etc. (things you would think would be in a garage), but NO!! I found cereal in that box. Needless to say, I didn't bother openning the boxes; they simply went into a trash bag and immediately out to the dumpster.

This should certainly gives one pause to think -- especially, if you have moved recently (or not so recently) and have any unpacked boxes -- what ARE in those boxes?????

Being as I have had a plummeting rollercoaster ride today, a few pluses occurred as well - making me belive that it might be possible for another upswing. Hopefully, the next upswing will be the slow and easy ride.... :D

Winning is possible constantly .... so long as the GOOD keeps overweighing the BAD.....

What are you doing today to ensure that you are on the upswing for tomorrow??? Just curious!